Generally speaking, prior art fragrance dispensers and other personal care product dispensers include a pump or aerosol module with a finger actuator for operating the module. Pump dispensers typically also include at least the following additional components: (1) a ferrule that contains the pump module and crimps onto or otherwise engages the receptacle (e.g., glass bottle, plastic container, or metal can), (2) a gasket that seals the ferrule to the top of the flange on the receptacle's neck (although some dispenser designs do not require a gasket if the ferrule material is soft enough to provide a good seal), and (3) a decorative collar around the ferrule. A cap may also be provided over the finger actuator and collar, either in a slip-fit or a snap-fit arrangement.
Typically, a pump module held in a ferrule is retained on a glass bottle by one of two methods:    (a) the lower edge of the ferrule, typically comprised of aluminum, is collapsed inwardly under the neck flange of the bottle by a crimping tool. Then, the collar is pushed over the ferrule as a separate operation; or    (b) the ferrule, made of either plastic or metal, has one or more retention portions that are moved, or retained, under the neck flange of the bottle by sliding the collar down the ferrule. With some designs, the collar and ferrule are initially “preassembled” by the module manufacturer so that the collar is in an “up” shipping position on the upper end of the ferrule, and subsequently the assembly is shipped to the customer (e.g., a fluid product manufacturer) who mounts the assembly on the bottle flange, and then pushes the collar all the way down on the ferrule to move and/or retain the retention portions under the bottle flange.
In either case, the collar can be metal or plastic. Usually, retention of a plastic collar on the ferrule is not a major concern because designs incorporate either snap fits or high force press fits (i.e., “heavy press fits”) that do not compromise the outer aesthetics of the collar. However, metal collars are usually fabricated in aluminum and then anodized to produce a lustrous surface. In order to accommodate physical tolerances in the ferrule and collar diameters, the internal surface of the collar may contain multiple, elongated, vertical ribs that project radially inwardly several thousandths of an inch off the inner surface thereof. When the collar is pushed over the ferrule with a heavy press fit, the collar slightly deforms, distorts, or “breathes,” into the shape of a polygon, with a resiliency that accommodates the tolerances. Another function of the ribs is to concentrate the “hoop” stress at multiple points, causing the ribs to dig into the ferrule and thus increase the resistance to removal.
However, finding the optimal parameters that provide the best retention and sealing of the module to the receptacle is difficult and heretofore has been elusive. For example, although the press fit over the ferrule must be strong enough to assure that the collar cannot be accidentally pulled off the ferrule, the fit must not be so strong as to damage the outer surface of the collar. The outer surface of the collar is especially susceptible to damage because the anodized surface of the collar is typically a very thin film of aluminum oxide that contains a colorant dye. When stressed in tension, the oxide film can crack, creating a diffraction grating that produces a rainbow effect that detracts from the aesthetics. As a result, the rib locations become evident on the outer surface of the collar, a condition known as “crazing.”
Similarly, while the press fit force must be high enough to compress the gasket sufficiently to ensure sealing to the bottle neck so as to avoid leaking, the press fit force should not be so high as to over-compress the gasket, causing it to extrude out from under the ferrule, or create such stresses that the bottle collapses or breaks.
Accordingly, it can be seen that improvements in the art are still desired. Specifically, it is desired to improve the state of the art collars to be able to increase the collar retention force (i.e., the force required to pull a collar off) while also not requiring so much force in initially applying the collar that crazing, bottle leaking, or breaking occurs.
Another proposal that has been used is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,941, which discloses a ferrule with a continuous skirt having an outwardly projecting lower edge which is deformed inwardly under the rim or flange of the container neck by the bottom portion of the rigid outer collar when the collar is forced down over the ferrule during the assembly process. However, it should be appreciated that the ferrule disclosed in that patent can therefore generally rest loosely on the container rim prior to the collar being pushed down over the ferrule during the assembly process. As a result, the ferrule may undesirably be dislodged or otherwise mis-positioned on the container rim during automated machine assembly.
Still another proposal which has been suggested is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,540, which describes a collar having angled ribs which facilitate securing of the collar to a ferrule of a dispensing assembly. While the collar such as disclosed therein may be advantageously used with a variety of ferrules, such ferrules may be subjected to some of the same drawbacks as referenced above.
Another improvement that has been suggested is to provide spiraling ribs in the inner surface of the collar, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,810. In that structure, the bottom of the ferrule skirt has circumferentially spaced legs or tabs with catches or feet so that the ferrule may be pushed down over the container rim for initial assembly whereby the tabs will flex out to allow the feet to pass the rim and then snap back in when the feet pass the rim, whereby the feet will grip under the rim. The collar is then pushed down over the ferrule so as to trap the tabs and prevent the tabs from being pulled, or flexing, back out—the lowered collar thereby securing the dispensing assembly on the container rim. The spiral ribs on the collar assist in securing the collar on the ferrule, while also permitting the collar to be subsequently twisted off of the ferrule in order to then permit the tabs to flex out as would be necessary to remove the assembly, such as may be desired for recycling the components of a used assembly.
In a typical method of assembling a dispensing package employing the types of collars and ferrules disclosed in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,810, the pump module is initially snap-fitted into the ferrule. If the ferrule is not itself capable of providing a seal (e.g., if the ferrule material is not soft enough to compress against and seal against the end of the bottle neck), a gasket is disposed inside the ferrule and around the module in a friction fit. Then the metal collar is mounted partially on the ferrule (i.e., the collar is pushed only partway down on the ferrule) in an “up” shipping position or configuration. The dispensing assembly is then shipped to the customer (e.g., a product manufacturer) for mounting to the bottle containing the fluid product. During such shipping and subsequent handling of the dispensing assembly, care must be exercised to avoid knocking the collar into a crooked orientation or off of the ferrule altogether. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved dispensing assembly facilitating initial mounting of the collar on the ferrule so that the collar can be initially positioned in the “up,” shipping position with an increased retention force while also accommodating subsequent lowering of the collar completely over the ferrule.
It would be beneficial if an improved dispensing assembly for a dispensing package could optionally accommodate incorporation of various aesthetically pleasing designs.
The improved dispensing assembly should preferably also accommodate designs for use with standard or conventional containers, especially glass bottles.
It would also be desirable if the constituent components of such an improved assembly could be relatively easily and economically manufactured with high production quality, and could provide consistent operating parameters unit-to-unit with high reliability.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above, and provides an improved system which can accommodate designs having one or more the above-discussed benefits and features.